What is an eviction?

Eviction is a process that a landlord can use to remove a tenant from a rental unit. The fancy legal term for an eviction lawsuit is an “unlawful detainer” action. It is called “unlawful detainer” because the landlord is accusing the tenant of staying in a rental unit when he or she does not have a legal right to do so, therefore, the rental unit is unlawfully detained. To “be evicted” means (1) you were the defendant (the renter who is being accused of unlawfully staying in the rental unit) in this type of lawsuit, (2) you lost the lawsuit, and (3) the court then ordered you to move out of the apartment or rental unit. If you leave a rental unit because the landlord asks you to do so, but you are never served with “unlawful detainer” eviction court papers, then you have not been evicted in the legal sense of the word.[1378]

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    LSNC, Self-Advocacy Fact Sheet: Eviction at 1, http://www.lsnc.net/dera_files/eviction_factsheet.pdf. ↑